Booming marijuana companies struggling to find skilled workers

As Canadian cannabis companies busily expand and go on hiring sprees ahead of the drug’s legalization this fall, industry insiders warn of a skills shortage plaguing the emerging sector.

Already, there are 115 licensed producers approved to grow cannabis – the bulk of them in Ontario and British Columbia – with another 588 applicants awaiting authorization, Health Canada statistics show.

The industry could add as many as 150,000 jobs over the next few years, according to a recent estimate. A quick browse of the job site Indeed.ca shows more than 500 full-time marijuana jobs. The positions range from entry-level positions like bud trimmer and retail-store workers to executive roles like director of international expansion and construction for Canopy Growth, the country’s largest cannabis company.

But because the cannabis industry is so new – Canada is one of a handful of countries to legalize it medically and the second to approve its recreational use – many companies are struggling to find people with the right skills, says the head of an industry consulting firm.

“You’ve got this booming sector. Ideally you’d love to find people with experience, but you can’t anymore, it’s too hard to find,” said Brian Wagner, the chief executive of Cannabis Compliance, which advises on marijuana production and retail licences.

“It’s a really tough spot,” he said, comparing the struggle to the artificial-intelligence industry’s effort to find qualified employees.

Jenny Kirby of Indiva works her way through a row of small marijuana plants at their facility in London. Marijuana producers across the country are going on hiring binges as they expand in preparation for the drug’s legalization on Oct. 17. Indiva, a London-based licensed producer, plans to double its staff over the next year, the company says. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

The head of a cannabis industry umbrella group echoed Wagner’s concern.

“Staffing at almost every level of cultivation is a challenge,” said Allan Rewak of the Cannabis Council of Canada, an industry group representing some of the country’s largest marijuana producers including Canopy, Tilray and Aurora.

“But we’re getting there,” he said, noting the industry is drawing top talent with backgrounds in the pharmaceutical and alcohol sectors.

Individuals with experience under the federal system that allows medicinal marijuana patients to grow cannabis themselves or appoint someone to do it, as well as former illicit growers, are also being tapped, Rewak said.

Wagner said the hardest job to find qualified applicants to fill – and one of the most crucial positions for pot producers – is for master grower, the person responsible for overseeing all aspects of cultivation.

Tasked with managing everything from seeding and germination to feeding and harvesting, a master grower need an extensive knowledge of things like temperature, humidity, lighting, plant diseases and controlling insects.

Prior to joining the publicly traded company, Pete Young spent 30 years supplying medical marijuana to members of the London Compassion Society.

“He’s been doing this since he was young, mastering lighting, hydroponics, genetics, seed generation, so we’ve been able to capitalize on his years of experience,” Indiva’s chief financial officer, Jennifer Welsh, said of Young.

Indiva will double its staff of 25 in the next nine months as the company adds eight more grow rooms, an extraction facility and lab space, said Welsh, who previously worked at a gold exploration company.

“We certainly get a lot of interest from our postings,” Welsh said, adding it’s not uncommon to get more than 100 applicants within the first week of posting a position.

“Two or three years of experience in a licensed producer is a lifetime for most people. You don’t have people with 20 years of experience that you’re bringing in. So sometimes you have to be a little bit creative to pull out what a person’s skill set is and how you can use it in this industry.”

Rewak says education offers a solution to the looming skill shortage, noting colleges and even some universities are adding cannabis courses and programs.

More than a half-dozen colleges offer diplomas in cannabis cultivation, while a handful of universities have introduced courses in cannabis business and law.

“That will generate the next generation of executives and leaders in this growing and ever-expanding sector,” Rewak said.

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